yahoos lazy eye

Yahoo has once again gone public with its strategy; this time Marissa Mayer announced it at a presentation to advertising buyers in NYC. (I once accused Yahoo of having a lazy eye and must admit my view hasn’t changed too much, but I still believe Ms. Mayer is the right person for the job. In a previous blog post I noted she may be on to something with a the germ of a brand idea, but yesterday may have dissuaded me.)

Yahoo needs to step up its original content game. And yesterday she acknowledged “premium content” as one leg of the stool. The other two legs being: innovation and performance. I’ve heard innovation before – What technology company doesn’t use that one? –but performance is new. But you can also drive a truck through it. At least she didn’t hang a brand plank on advertising. Last time out she talked about mobile, but I guess that falls under innovation.

Every house has a foundation. Every company needs a business strategy and a brand strategy. What I’ve found out in my years as a planner and consultant is that creating the brand strategy first is the best way to build a business strategy — because it’s built on customers and endemic business value. There I’ve said it. Come get me Harvard Business Schoolies.

Yahoo is making money. Diddling around with mobile. Promoting Ms. Mayers in lovely ways. But it still does not have a brand strategy. Ask Gareth Kay. Search this site for all posts on Yahoo if you would like to see the history of missteps. Yahoo is pulling its nose up (aviation metaphor)…it just needs more time and a tight brand plan. Peace.

Recent Articles

I went to the Starbucks yesterday, one housed in my local Ingles grocery store, and a nice young women in a non-descript polo shirt came to serve me. I was looking for an Ingles logo on the shirt, but didn’t see one. Within a minute another woman walked into the Starbucks retail space with a […]

As a brand planner, whose primary concern is developing master brand strategy, my discovery phase is all about finding the right claim and the three most motivating proof planks supporting that claim. This claim and proof framework is perhaps the simplest most easy to understand means by which to build a brand. Claim and proof […]

I’m working on an assignment that has me reading a child development text by a PhD and clinician who also happen to be parents. The text delves into brain function. Fellow brand planner and friend Megan Kent has built up a great practice mapping the brain to preference and emotional attachments to brands. Check her […]

I was reading a recipe this weekend for chick pea chili (don’t judge) and decided right off the bat I’d never make it. Not for the chick peas, not for the drive to the grocery store(s), but for the over complication of ingredients. I favor minimalism in my cooking. It’s easier to taste a few […]

We remember beauty. We remember new. We remember rich. We remember melody. We remember funny. We remember nature. We remember poetry. We remember pain. We remember educators. We remember warmth. We remember charity. We remember happy. We remember love. We remember triumph. These are the things we remember. These are the things consumers remember. (I […]

Brand strategy is an organizing principle that gives brand managers a “go-no go” guide for product, experience and messaging. It makes branding easy. Nicholas Kristof in the NYT today was talking about the social entrepreneurs attending Davos and how refreshing they were to have around. He was poo-pooing consumerists who are all about the money. […]

Anthony Noto was just names CEO of SoFi, the online banking lender. Mr. Noto came to my attention when named chief marketing officer of Twitter – with nary a marketing bone in his body. He was hired as Twitter’s CFO, then slid over into marketing side of the house (two hats) after spending time at […]